


Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires

by kahzehaya



Category: TAZ - Fandom, The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gay, I don't know how to tag things I just got this account, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Repressed Feelings, especially if you've got a thing for running away from destiny, he'll get through it don't worry, indrid/duck, indruck, look when you grow up in rural wv you're not super in touch with your gay feelings okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-20 00:31:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17012097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kahzehaya/pseuds/kahzehaya
Summary: Sometimes you can see the future, but you can't always do something about it.





	1. Sparks

Duck didn’t usually take advantage of his vacation days.

What was there to do anyway? His schedule consisted of walking the forest, doing boring paperwork, ignoring his true destiny as a savior of the earth, and then going home and feeding his cat. He went through the mundane tasks of life without putting up much a fight, learning more to roll with the punches than cause a scene.

He didn’t like making too much noise, in a way. He enjoyed the silence in his life like he enjoyed the silence of the forest as the sun set. He had turned his back on destiny each time it called upon him in favor for that silence. Duck enjoyed the life he had and wanted to preserve it as much as he could. The visions were just dreams, Minerva was just a dream he’d had when he was young, it was all just a damn dream. He was surprised his subconscious had that much creativity lurking within it. He was just a park ranger who lived in a small town that was a tourist trap, nothing more.

He made it until his mid-forty’s before destiny stopped knocking politely and instead kicked in the door. Suddenly he found himself with a second job, fighting monsters with a crook and a girl young enough to be his daughter. He’d spend a week or two chasing after an abomination with a talking sword that only ever had something negative to say, trying his best to lie when it was needed, usually failing at that, but continuing on none the less. It was a fight he didn’t want to fight, but he was thrown in the ring despite his protests.

And this winter? This winter tore him a new one.

He’d killed something. It wasn’t human, it didn’t seem animal, but it was something. He knew logically it was what had to be done, but the guilt that came from ending something else living (was it even technically a living thing?) shook him to the core. And in the wake of all these emotions he was wrestling with, Minerva left. He hadn’t considered her a friend until… well, until she left. He had Leo now, and he always had Aubrey and Ned, hell, the whole Lodge really, but he had to make the effort to see them. None of them would suddenly appear in front of him at exactly the same time every day like Minerva did, he would have to disrupt the silence himself. He was never good at that. He was good at minding his own business and keeping his emotions to himself, it was just the way he went about his life. Quietly. And now he had five vacation days and nothing to do them with, no one to spend them with. He was going to stay in his apartment and watch old movies with his cat, and maybe get a pizza to treat himself.

Cell phones don’t work in Kepler. National quiet zone rules. He had a walkie talkie and a ranger email that he used for work and nothing else, but after the nagging of his sister who was always out traveling, he got a landline. He got used to her erratic calling. Sometimes she’d ring at 5am, forgetting time zones existed, or at 7 o’clock, when she knew he was watching jeopardy. Her timing was all over the place, so when the phone rang the moment he stepped through the door to his apartment after a shift in the forest, he wasn’t surprised,

“Jane, you got me just as I was walkin-“

“Duck Newton!” the voice on the other end rang out, “It’s Indrid. Sorry, no Jane here.”

“Oh, hey Indrid,” Duck shifted his weight from foot to foot, embarrassed by his assumption, “How… not to be rude or nothin’, but how did you get my number?”

“You’re not the only one who knows how a phone book works, Duck.” Indrid was obviously smiling on the other end,

“Yeah, you got me there…”

“I hope that’s not too much of an intrusion of your privacy, I consider us to be some sort of work associates-“

“Do you need something?” Duck asked, rubbing his tired eyes and scrubbing at his face with one hand, god, he needed to shave, “… Shit. That sounded mean, didn’t it? I’m sorry Indrid I’ve had a long day and-“

“How do you deal with an electric fire?” Indrid asked, voice light and nonchalant.

“Electrical… fuck, call the fire department? Are you okay? Don’t put water on it! Do you, fuck, do you have uh, baking soda? That can work-“

“Sorry to continually cut you off, Duck, but there is not currently a fire. Don’t worry.”

“Then why… Jesus, Mary, and Joseph… Indrid, you almost gave me a heart attack. Do you know how easily a fire can catch in the winter?”

“That is _exactly_ what I am trying to avoid. “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires” right?” Indrid gave a half-hearted laugh, “I am… aware of how many… devices… I currently have in my home, and I may have or may not have seen a couple hundred realities where said home doesn’t quite make it through these last few winter months.”

“You have too much shit plugged in and it’s going to start a fire. First step to avoid that: start unplugging shit.”

“I would love to! But some of those devices have started sparking.”

“Turn off the main power and then unplug everything.”

“I am certain I would freeze to death!”

“… Call the fire department and have them come in with their fancy gloves and start unplugging everything.”

“I’m living on federal land without a permit!”

Duck sighed, he was unnerved how Indrid said everything with a smile. He could see the other man in his head, eyebrows raised, teeth showing just enough for it to be creepy, and red glasses glinting back at him.

“Put on a bunch of sweaters and coats, turn off the main power, unplug everything, and then plug it back in _safely_ before turning the power back on.” Duck said, tucking the phone between his ear and his shoulder and then kneeling down to start untying his boots.

“Two problems with that, sorry to say. I don’t have a wide assortment of winter clothing, and what qualifies… safely plugging something back in?”

Duck groaned,                                                                                                     

“How do you have plugged in now?”

“Power strip I found at goodwill.”

“Does it have a surge protector?”

“What’s a surge protector?”

Duck balled his hands into fists. He knew Indrid didn’t get the “be cautious of how fires can start” talk kids got while in elementary school, but basic knowledge of how everything could suddenly come crashing down from a spark should be common knowledge. Hell, it wasn’t even just Indrid. Humans were like this too.

“You have 12 minutes until something seriously catches fire, I would appreciate your help, Duck.” And the line went silent.

Duck sighed again,

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…” he muttered to himself, and tied his shoes back up.


	2. Have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duck does his best to help without killing Indrid on the spot.

He had had to unplug his alarm clock. And his bedside lamp. And the charger for his iPod, a gift he got from Jane to celebrate him finally graduating community college. He unplugged everything for a man, a mothed man, he barely knew.

So three minutes after hanging up the call, Duck was driving through Kepler with a power strip sitting in his passenger seat. It was the only one he had in his house, but he’d rather have a dead iPod than a forest fire. He would survive, Indrid might not. He also took the initiative of throwing in one of his old hoodies that was hiding in the back of his closet. Kepler High School, class of  **[REDACTED]** . He had no problems giving it away, he had no sentimental ties to his education, plus he doubted it’d even fit him now, but he was sure Indrid could slip into just about anything, the man was basically a stick. 

The sun had set a long time ago, and the headlights of Duck’s pickup truck were barely cutting through the dark of the winter night. He drove with his fingers gripped tight around the steering wheel, filled with anxiety from all the possible catastrophes that could occur at any given moment. The forest could be completely wiped out by a fire during a dry winter, he’d most likely lose his job if they found out he knew how it started and failed to call the fire department, if he didn’t have a job he’d fall behind in his rent payments, and then he’d end up having to beg other people for help, the possibility of which made him clench his teeth in distress. With his mind committing a slippery slope fallacy, he looked straight ahead, and did his best to focus on the dirt road taking him to Indrid. 

The window to the winnebago was lit up from the inside, incredibly bright in comparison to the darkness of the night. Indrid must have his home full of lamps. Duck gave a half smile at that,

“Yeah… I guess he is a moth.” He said to himself before turning his mouth back into a frown, “... still a fire hazard.”

Duck had parked and was walking towards the Winnebago with power strip in hand, but before he could even get close to knocking on the door, it swung open. 

“Hello Duck!” Indrid said, holding onto the frame of his door and recoiling from the cold, “Sorry for having to call you so unexpectedly-“

“ **Where’s your main power coming from?** ” Duck asked, only to have Indrid repeat in it time,

“Around back, I was getting to that part Duck, you still have a few minutes.”

“I would really prefer if we weren’t doing this at the very last minute.” Duck tucked the power strip under one arm and balled up the hoodie, throwing it at Indrid, “Wear this.”

Indrid had his hands up to catch it before Duck even threw it. 

“This is… very nice but my body doesn’t hold on to heat very well. Neither does my humble abode.” Indrid furrowed his brow a moment, finally showing some kind of worry, but he quickly went back to seeming unconcerned. He stepped to the side, no longer taking up the whole door frame, “Why don’t you come in?”

“Look.” Duck said, walking up to Indrid and handing him the power strip and unzipping his ranger-issued jacket, “Put on the hoodie, I’ll give you my jacket too, fuck, whatever. Go get under some blankets and just give me a few minutes.”

Indrid opened his mouth to say something, but closed it as Duck’s jacket was thrust into his hands. 

“Thank you.” He mumbled, and began putting on the clothes that had been given to him. This was not the timeline he had expected to play out. His worry about his ability to last in the cold finally started to sink in.

The moment Duck was out of his jacket, the cold hit him like a punch to the gut. He shuddered, but moved towards the back of the Winnebago regardless of the threat of frostbite. If he lost a pinkie over this he’d sue. Indrid had everything plugged in, hot water, plumbing, and electricity, all in a mess of wires and pipes. He had no idea what level of amp Indrid was using, and he had a feeling Indrid didn’t know either. He grabbed the plug and yanked it out of its socket, almost dropping it from how hot it was in his hand. He heard Indrid yelp from inside as all his lights and heaters shut off. 

Duck walked back around and opened the door to go inside. It wasn’t cold just yet, but had gotten significantly cooler within a short time. It was almost pitch black, he fumbled in the dark to grab his flashlight off his belt and turned it on. 

“Jesus!” He exclaimed as Indrid was standing directly in front of him, glasses reflecting back the light. Indrid gave a smile that said “I’m trying to look happy but I think I might snap soon.” 

_ Do my teeth show that much when I smile?  _ Duck thought to himself,  _ Creepy…. Are those fangs? No, just real sharp canines… I guess it suits him. _

“Sorry to startle you.” Indrid said, stepping back, “Drawn to light and all that, you know.” He gave another tense smile.

“Huh.” Duck said, “Okay, where do you have everything plugged in?”

Indrid walked to the end of what he would call his living room, expertly moving around the limited amounts of furniture, piles of clothes, and other oddities thrown about the floor. Duck wasn’t so dexterous and bumped into every other thing, even with the help of his flashlight. Indrid stopped suddenly and pointed down at the floor,

“This is where I have everything plugged in. It started sparking… I think… a few days ago?” He said, one hand on his hip as he thought. 

“And you just now decided to…” Duck started, ready to lecture again, but decided against it, “you know, whatever. Hand me the power strip I gave you.”

Indrid placed the power strip in Duck’s hand and Duck realized the other man was already shivering. His sour mood told him to roll his eyes, but his empathy kicked in and took over,

“Jesus, I’m real sorry Indrid I haven’t meant to be so rude towards ya it’s just been a-“

“ **Long day and I get anxious about fires.** ” Indrid finished with him, “I understand your frustration, but please, just fucking plug everything back in.” 

Duck blinked in surprise, he didn’t think he’d ever heard Indrid curse before,

“… Roger that.” Duck said as he knelt to the ground and began unplugging all the cords Indrid had attached to his powerstrip. The powerstrip itself looked like it had been through Hell and back, it was covered in a layer of dust and some sticky substance, with scorch marks around some of the plugs.  Duck had to bite his tongue to keep from saying anything aggressively mean to Indrid. 

“You said you got this from goodwill?” Duck asked, pulling out the last plug,

“Y-yeah.” Indrid was trembling from the cold,

“When?”

The taller man stood silently for a moment,

“... 1997?”

Duck wanted to strangle him.

But instead he focused his hands on plugging everything back in and then carefully slotting it into the outlet on the wall. He pointed at the red switch on the end of the strip,

“This will shut it off immediately. If it starts sparking again, flip this, wait a bit, and turn it back on. If it keeps sparking, call me, ya hear?”

Duck turned with his flashlight to look at Indrid to make sure he understood, and found the taller man with his hood up and the strings pulled in tightly, making the hood cover most of his face, only his glasses were showing. Duck laughed,

“You look ridiculous, bud.”

“‘S  _ cold _ .” Indrid said, voice muffled by the fabric. 

Duck smiled and shook his head, flipping the switch on the power strip to ‘ON’,

“Almost fixed.”

Duck stumbled his way out of Indrid’s home and shuffled to the back, stuffing his hands in his pockets to defend against the creeping cold he felt extending up his fingers. Next time he ever did someone a favor like this he was going to bring gloves. 

The plug had already become ice cold as Duck picked it up off the ground, putting it into the socket. He looked around the side of the winnebago at Indrid’s window. No lights were on.

He unplugged it and plugged it back in. 

Nothing. 

He yanked out the plug and slammed it back in with a considerable amount of force. 

Nothing.

Duck heard the door on the front squeak open,

“Duck?” Indrid called, “Is everything alright?”

Duck pinched the bridge of his nose,

“Uh, yeah partner… Can you flip the switch to the power strip a few times?” He asked.

The door rattled shut and for a moment everything was silent and still. Almost as if nothing else existed outside of the predicament Duck somehow managed to find himself in. The door squeaked open again,

“Nothing’s turning back on.” Indrid said, a quiver of fear in his voice.

Duck sighed,

“I… I don’t know what’s goin’ on with it, I don’t think it’s gonna work tonight, bud.”

The night was silent and still again, until the door slammed hard enough to make Duck wince. Then, through the (apparently very thin) walls of the winnebago he heard,

“FUCK!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some friends help me with brainstorming for this and they came up with this great dialogue that I said I'd put in so here:
> 
> "That’s kinda hot in my onion and then komaeda walked in!!!!!! “U guys need to have hope uwu” 
> 
> duck : lmao who the FUCK is this?? ANOTHER CRYPTID  
> Mothman: we do not claim him  
> Komaeda: wiggington  
> Sans: hello  
> Naruto: believe it!"
> 
> Shoutout to Lue and Emma <3


	3. Nedjem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Indrid meets someone new.  
> Duck isn't very good at sleeping.

The moment Duck managed to unlock his front door Indrid barrelled through, tossing his sketchbook on the couch and making a beeline for the kitchen to throw his eggnog into the fridge. Duck could hear him shuffling around the kitchen, opening cabinets and sliding open doors and making far too much noise for an apartment that shared walls with other folk.

“Indrid, hey bud,” Duck said, poking his head in, “are you lookin’ for something?”

“Where do you keep your spices? I was wondering if you had any nu-” 

Indrid froze in place and stared at the ground just past Duck,

“What is th-”

_ “Mrow.” _

Duck looked behind him and laughed,

“Oh that’s my cat, Nedjem.” He went over and picked her up, she instantly snuggled into Duck’s arms.

“Nedjem?” Indrid asked.

“Uh, yeah, I read in one of those world record books that the first cat that name its named recorded was Nedjem. It basically just means ‘sweetie’.”

Indrid adjusted his glasses, regaining some of his composure from being startled,

“She… doesn’t have any hair.”

“She’s a sphinx, I found her in the dumpster a few years ago, which is kinda funny, considerin’ if ya wanna buy one they’re a little pricey.”

Nedjem purred aggressively in Duck’s arms,

“Most animals usually run away from me.” Indrid said, raising his hand, “May I?”

Duck stepped forward and leaned in so Indrid was able to reach Nedjem. His touch was light and his hand twitched back immediately afterwards,

“She’s soft.” He said, voice full of surprise.

“Well, ya see, not all of them are genuinely hairless,” Duck started. 

Indrid nodded along as he gave the rest of his explanation, but he couldn’t help but be caught up on that one word ‘genuinely’. Duck had said it differently than Indrid had heard before. He stretched out the letters and vowels, sounding more like he was saying ‘gen-you-ine’. He couldn’t see it, but under his glasses Indrid was staring wide-eyed at him, filled with a curiosity he hadn’t felt so strongly in ages.

“So it’s basically super tiny hairs, and in the end it’s kinda like chamois, y’know, the leather?”

“Oh!” Indrid said, snapping back to reality, “That’s very interesting, Duck.”

Duck crouched down and let Nedjem jump to the floor,

“She’s a sweet thing. Once I found her I did a bunch of research at the library, they’re heat seeking creatures, kinda like you.”

Indrid laughed,

“Yes, she’s definitely like me.”

Duck shuffled his feet a bit and scratched at his neck, thinking again on how he needed to shave.

“You okay with sleeping on the couch for the night?” He said, pointing into his living room at a deep red couch, made up of plush, but slightly lumpy, cushions. It had seen better days, but Indrid could tell it was loved well.

“That’s…” Indrid shrugged, “That’ll work.”

He didn’t see a future with him sleeping very much that night.

Indrid took Duck’s coat off and laid it over the back of the couch, being much gentler with it than any of his own clothes, most of which he usually just threw to the floor. He sat on the couch with his legs tucked up underneath him, and watched silently as Duck padded across his apartment, grabbing blankets from various locations. He ended up with two thick quilts and one fleece blanket.

“My uh, mom made these quilts, they’re pretty warm. I think I got the blanket at IKEA? Anyway, they should keep you warm.” Duck mumbled out, trying to lessen some of the silence in the room. He handed the blankets to Indrid, who wrapped himself in each layer without a word.

“Is there anything else I can get for ya?”

“No,” Indrid reached under his glasses and rubbed at his eyes, “I’m just fine. You do need to sleep though, I know that much about humans.”

Duck let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding,

“Yeah… yeah we really do. It’s been a long day.” 

“Sleep well, Duck.”

“Thanks Indrid. You too.”

Duck was asleep before he even hit the pillow.

 

***

Everything was on fire.

It was just yellow, orange, and red, surrounding him. He knew it was hot, unbearably so, but it was so hot that his body had shut off the nerves so he couldn’t feel it burning away at his skin. But he could smell it, hear it, and he could see it. Every single tree he could see was engulfed and it was spreading faster than he knew possible. 

Duck was running faster than his body should have let him. His lungs were filled with smoke and his eyes were watering from the ash flying in his face. He had a destination in mind, but when he tried to recall where he was running to, his thought process seemed to hit a wall of static. The more he tried to think the harder it was to run, his tunnel vision had become so narrow he was unable to see the fallen branches in front of him, and his legs got caught and sent him crashing to the ground.

He scrambled to his hands and knees and tried to breathe, but his panicked, oxygen depraved mind could only make him cough. He wheezed, tears forming in his eyes as he back arched with each cough. All he was breathing was smoke, there was no clean air left in the entirety of the forest. He felt impure on the inside, filled with so much smoke, filled with so much guilt for only managing to be a bystander as the place he cared about the most burnt down to its bones.

He brought a soot covered hand to his mouth to try and filter the air, only to find a black sludge was pouring out of his mouth. It stuck to his hands and seeped into the webbing between his fingers, encasing them. He tried to stand but could only manage to get to his knees and then slump to the side like his spine had become gelatinous. He brought his hands to his mouth and felt the sludge slide down his forearms and drip to the ground. Soon he was surrounded in a pool of inky blackness, black as smoke, suffocating him from the inside. The burning of the forest matched the burning in his chest.

He had little control of his body. His hands were frozen in place, palms up towards the sky like a repenting saint, knees pressed into the burnt forest floor, and spine bent like he had been broken into that position.. Duck tried yell, to scream, but could only hear the crackling of the wood around him. It took everything he had in him to crane his neck to look upwards at the sky, past the burning tops of the trees, and into a smoke filled sky with a blood red moon reflecting down back at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was fun to write. Anyway I sleep now. It's 2am.


	4. Mimicry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the finished project y'all! Happy Holidays!
> 
> Sorry this chapter is a tad bit shorter than the others. Oops!

That was why he didn’t offer the bed to Indrid.

He woke up covered in sweat, hands shaking as he wiped his face, and rolled to look at his clock to see what ungodly hour he was woken up at.

Oh, right. No alarm clock. Just a dead screen staring back at him.

Duck sat up in his bed and touched carefully at his mouth, checking for the black sludge that haunted his dreams, but the only thing he found was drool at the corner of his lips.

He put on a dry t-shirt and splashed a handful of water into his face, then took five deep breaths, each to the count of ten. 

He walked back into his living room to figure out the time. Yeah, that was the reason. The lights were still on and he could see Indrid’s sketchbook sitting open on the coffee table. He looked at the shape of Indrid, curled in on himself and facing in towards the couch, and carefully paced over and craned his neck to try and peak at what the taller man had been drawing.

It took some effort for his sleep filled mind to identify the shapes on the page; some were scribbled out or smudged so badly he couldn’t see anything more than a blob. He scanned the page and saw two eyes drawn on their own in incredible detail. One was clear and the other shaded dark, they were squinted with a set of eyebrows furrowed above them. If there was a mouth, Duck assumed it would’ve been twisted into a scowl. He blinked twice before the realization dawned on him,

_ Are those my eyes? _

“It’s not quite finished yet.”

Duck jumped back and he tripped over his own feet,

“Fuck!” He yelled as he caught himself on one of the arms of his chairs, “Is the only thing you’re good at scarin’ people?”

Indrid sat up and smiled,

“It’s one of my talents.”

“I thought you were asleep, Jesus Christ.” He muttered more to himself than Indrid, “You mind if I sit with ya for a bit?”

“I don’t sleep much, and go right ahead.”

Duck sighed and lowered himself into his chair, setting his elbows on his knees and resting his face in his hands.

“Is there… something pressing you’d like to talk about?”

“Shouldn’t ya already know?” Duck replied, voice muffled by his sweaty hands.

Indrid hummed low in his throat,

“I’m not a mind reader, Duck Newton.”

“Just Duck is fine.” Duck sighed, “It’s… destiny stuff. Things have been changing so much and recently it’s been… y’know… like what’s the point, right?”

He ran his hands through hair,

“Sorry ‘bout, uh, dumping all this on ya. But ya seem to know a lot of stuff and I was wondering if ya could see… something.”

Indrid sat up and crossed his legs in front of him,

“Duck, look at me.” He said, and lowered his glasses down the bridge of his nose.

The park ranger let his eyes raise off the ground and then took in a sharp breath as he saw Indrid’s eyes for the first time.

The eyes themselves were black, and looked as if they somehow had a matte finish, but the irises were dark red with a dilated, black pupil in the center. Duck’s stomach twisted at the abnormality of it, the basic instincts in his mind telling him that this was a dangerous creature and that he should be running away fast, and  _ now _ . Yet, Indrid’s intense gaze kept him frozen like a deer in headlights, fixed firmly to his seat.

“Uh, th-that’s-” He stammered,

“ **Interesting** .” Indrid finished for him, “Actually, they’re quite unnerving, I’m aware. Thank you for trying to be polite”

His overwhelming smile was gone and instead his mouth was set in a thin line.

“I understand very little about destiny,” he started, his voice as serious as Duck had ever heard, “But I know I’m exposed to futures, and destiny lies within those futures, and I’m meant to do something with that ability.”

He cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brow in thought,

“I… may have not done the best job so far, if you’d like to take a look at the casualties that fall onto my path.” He pushed his head back straight, like a puppeteer fixing a doll whose position had gone askew, “However, if I’m meant to interact with destiny, then it is more likely than not that I will be interacting with your destiny quite a bit.”

Duck couldn’t take his eyes away from Indrid’s gaze,

“So… like…” he meshed his fingers together, “intertwined…?” 

Indrid let out a huff that Duck figured was supposed to be a laugh,

“No, I wouldn’t be as inflated to say that. Intersected, maybe. Crossing paths.”

“I just ain’t seein’ the point of following my destiny if all it’s gonna do is get me killed.” He threw his hands out in a gesture of exasperation, “All the dreams, weird coincidences, fuckin’ Minerva showing up... it’s all… so much. All I’m doin’ is losin’ sleep. Jesus, Indrid, the fucking nightmares, you wouldn’t believe...”

Indrid copied Duck’s position of leaning his elbows on his knees and moved his face closer to Duck’s,

“I cannot give you a clear and concise breakdown of what your destiny, your future, will hold for you.” He broke his gaze for a second, eyes darting down, then snapping back up, “But I know I can and I  _ will  _ continue to help in every way I possibly can.”

Indrid took in a deep breath and let his eyes fall shut,

“Now, Duck, the nightmares…” He opened his eyes slowly, letting his irises slowly rise to meet Duck’s. Indrid carefully reached out and Duck watched in slow motion as he took his hand and held it in his own long, pale, cold fingers. Duck looked at their hands, then at Indrid, breath caught in his throat. He should pull his hand away, he should jump back and tell Indrid to leave and block the interaction from his memory like he had done all his life. These emotions he had bottled up out of fear… Now was not the time to start working through them. Not at God knows how early in the morning, not in his apartment, not with a strange man he had only met a handful of times in his life, a moth man, at that. Yet, the touch of Indrid’s skin against his own… it shouldn’t have felt comforting, but he leaned into it as Indrid brushed his thumb over Duck’s knuckles.  

Duck looked away from Indrid’s distorted mimicry of human eyes and watched his mouth instead as it broke into a chilling grin, showing more and more teeth, stretching his lips so thin they looked like they might snap, sending a spike of fear into the base of his spine. The air hung still around them, for what felt like hours, until Indrid finally spoke and made Duck’s heart stop in place,

“Tell me  _ everything _ .”

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a road trip au. I got lost somewhere along the way.  
> Indruck is taking over my life.


End file.
